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. 2021 Dec 24;12(1):e8488.
doi: 10.1002/ece3.8488. eCollection 2022 Jan.

Acute and lagged fitness consequences for a sagebrush obligate in a post mega-wildfire landscape

Christopher R Anthony  1 , Lee J Foster  2 , Christian A Hagen  3 , Katie M Dugger  1
Affiliations

Acute and lagged fitness consequences for a sagebrush obligate in a post mega-wildfire landscape

Christopher R Anthony et al. Ecol Evol. .

Abstract

Species responses to disturbance influence their extinction risks. Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) are bioindicators of sagebrush ecosystem health and the loss of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) due to wildfire, can cause long-term declines in sage-grouse populations and other sagebrush obligate species. We examined the demographic response of a greater sage-grouse population following a mega-wildfire using stochastic age-structured female-based matrix models over 6 years (2013-2018). Notably, chick survival (range = 0.18-0.38) and female survival (yearling range: 0.20-0.68; adult range: 0.27-0.75) were low compared to values reported for greater sage-grouse in other parts of their distribution. Greater sage-grouse displayed variation in demographic tactics after the fire; however, adult female survival explained most of the variation in λ during each year, which reflected a declining population in 3 of 6 years with more uncertainty observed in 2015 when populations may have been increasing, and 2017 and 2018, when populations may have been declining. The continued annual population decline observed since 2016 suggested there were additional strong environmental impacts that may have been compounded by the fire effects, prolonging recovery of greater sage-grouse. Our results support others that reported negative effects to greater sage-grouse demographics from broad-scale fire and provide a baseline for understanding how this species responds to loss of sagebrush cover based on their life history strategy.

Keywords: Centrocercus urophasianus; demographics; fire; life history; sagebrush; survival.

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Conflict of interest statement

All contributing authors have approved this manuscript and have agreed to Ecology and Evolution's submission policies. The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper. This manuscript has not been previously published and is not currently in review by another journal. Capture and handling of all greater sage‐grouse were conducted under protocols approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at Oregon State University.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
Mean finite rate of population change (λ) and 95% confidence intervals of female greater sage‐grouse in the Trout Creek Mountains, Harney and Malheur counties, Oregon, USA, 2013–2018. Line at 1.00 represents a stable population
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Contributions of fecundity vital rates (a) and fecundity and survival vital rates (b) to variation in population growth (λ) from life table response experiments for female greater sage‐grouse in the Trout Creek Mountains, Harney and Malheur counties, Oregon, USA, 2013–2018. 1, first nest; 2, re‐nest; CS, clutch size; NI, nest initiation; NS, nest survival; SASY, adult survival; Schick, chick survival; Sjuv, juvenile survival; SSY, yearling survival. Graphs depict different scales
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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